Full disclosure: This is a blatant ripoffinspired by natalex's beautiful Braided Winter Headband. The pattern and the texture reminded me of the belts viking women would wear (but theirs were leather and not skooshy yarn) which is where the name came from.

Photos!

I'm terrible at getting photos of the top of my head, so here's my best effort at showing the braided section. This yarn isn't exactly photogenic.

I considered adding glass beads on the end of the braid, but there's already so much going on that it seemed like a bad idea. (That, and I'd probably break them after a week or two. :p )

This was all done on my trusty pink knifty knitter, in moss/seed stitch. The texture is absolutely fab, since this yarn feels like squishy marshmallows (it's the loops & threads charisma stuff, in charcoal) and it's a dream to wear. This is my first knitting project (besides scarves) that I'm super happy with, since it came out perfectly.

I'm working on another one in green, but thinner and more delicate, and it'll probably get beads on the braid. These headbands are way too much fun to make! I'm going to have a bunch of them by the time it gets cold enough to wear them practically.

My sister starts high school this year, and for some reason, is required to carry around a laptop. Since she's not the sort that goes for the boring black cases or the dumb girly "laptop purses", she needed a custom one to tote her computer in *style*. She picked out the fabric (Moda "Frolic" and the ubiquitous ikea hippo print) and helped me pick out a style to copy draw inspiration from. Since her laptop is pretty much a square, the narwahl bag from greensmart seemed like the best design, and we both liked the nifty zipper pocket on the flap.

Pictures!

It's got two carrying handles, for slinging over a shoulder or carrying in your hand. Yay options! The messenger strap is a bit longer, but I have it tied off so that it doesn't take up the whole picture. My sister is *tall*.

The nifty lapped zipper makes the entire flap into a pocket, for carrying even more stuff. You can see the quilting on the flap here; the whole thing is quilted so that it'll keep her laptop nice and safe.

Under the flap, there are 2 really big pockets for cds and dvds and cords(that red line is the top, and they go all the way to the bottom!) and two small pockets, for pens and stuff.

And the inside pocket is just roomy enough to carry a jewel case or a spare flash drive. Funny story about the fabric for the pocket; I'm currently packing my fabric up to move back to college, and I'd already packed all the hippo fabric away, d'oh! The green leafy print was the only fabric out that looked good with the hippos, haha.

Derpy action shot! It's a little past 1:30 AM, so I'm not exactly dressed to the nines. At least I have pants on!

I really love how this bag turned out, and I'm sure my sister will too, once she wakes up! I owed her this bag two months ago, so I'm glad to finally have it finished for her.

I just recieved from CraftCrazy13, and omg, this is awesome.Everything was all wrapped up in brown packing paper, and there was a letter and a picture of Tom Felton (haha, it's totally going up on the bathroom door. )

I got a tiny chest with the slytherin crest on it...

But wait, there's more! It was filled with a million magnets!

Seriously, a million. (and some from other swaps. I just love my magnets. xD)

They all have tiny images of HP characters in them, and they're way cute. I have a feeling that some of them are going to make their way onto my friend's doors. xD

Carry Me was one of my christmas presents this year, and I absolutely love the bag on the cover. Since I have no idea where to find stripey linen like the author used, I found this lovely print at Ikea. Sadly, it wasn't on super sale (there were a few prints that were $2/yard!), but since I only needed a yard for the bag, it worked out pretty well. I was intending to make a smaller purse from it, so that it would be like a cheap Tokidoki bag, but I never got the bits and pieces that I needed for that, so this fabric was languishing in my stash, and that just wouldn't do.

(ugh, nasty late-night hair! That's what I get for spending all night sewing haha!)

This is really a gigantic bag. I can put my laptop bag and a pair of shoes in it, and it still has room for more stuff. It's definitley going to be my new grocery/library/shopping/toting stuff around bag, just because it really holds everything. I love the design, and it was really easy to put together. I finished it in just less than 5 hours, which is mind-blowingly fast for me. xDI love how the pocket was attached, but not so fond of leaving it unlined with interfacing showing on the inside. The next generation of this bag will have a lined pocket and a better zipper, so that it will unzip easily. This zipper is very thief-deterrent, because you have to really yank at it to get it open. I suppose that's a good thing. I think next time, I'm going to use more interfacing in the bottom and the very top, because it's a bit floppy in those spots.

The lining is a really soft cotton that an old boyfriend's mom gave me, when she was de-stashing. It was just the right match for the outer fabric, since it's super cute without clashing. It has little roses in the checks.

I'm totally in love with my new bag, and I'll hopefully make more of the bags from the book to show you! They're all very cute and modern, and so well designed! Toodles!